Two heads are better than one
by disc-on-tent
Summary: AU Who would you go to if you ended up in the wrong universe? Rating increased for later chapters. FINALLY COMPLETE
1. prologue a

Disclaimer: These people are owned by MGM, Gecko and the US Sci-fi channel. When I make my third million, I might try to buy them; but I'm not there yet.

Rated: For later chapters.

Set: Somewhere before "The Siege – part 1"

Spoilers: SG1 Season 1 "There but for the Grace of God"

SG1 Season 1 "Points of View"

SG1 Season 1 "Solitudes"

Theme: McKay/Sheppard and Zelenka/Sheppard relationships.

I have tweaked the formatting to make it easier to read.

This is my first full-length fanfic. All constructive criticism gratefully received. Something Rodney said set me thinking. This will not be slash or ship.

* * *

**Sheppard dived through the gate as the Wraith dart fired; twisting as he fell to protect his injured arm. The whine of the dart cut off abruptly as the shield closed behind him; followed almost immediately by the sound of impact as the dart slammed through the gate and into the shield.**

**The warmth of the Gateroom struck him as he rolled onto his back and glanced around, anxiously checking that the rest of his team had arrived safely. Ford was still facing the gate, P90 at the ready and a small knot of scientists including Grodin and a remarkably dishevelled Zelenka stood over a prone figure in a charcoal jacket; but whether it was McKay or Teyla, he couldn't see from his position. Groaning, Sheppard sat upright and tried to climb to his feet beckoning Ford to help him. A medical team led by Dr Beckett ran into view and, with a practiced ease, Beckett checked the fallen figure and started issuing instructions to his staff. With his ears still ringing from the blow to his head, John was aware that something didn't sound quite right, but, as he passed into unconsciousness, the significance eluded him.**

* * *

**McKay opened the door. He stood, wiping floury hands on a damp cloth, the smell of cooking wafting past Sheppard and into the corridor behind. Gentle jazz played in the background.**

**"John!" Rodney's surprise and pleasure was evident on his face. "It's great to see you up and about; Carson said that he was keeping you in overnight." A raised eyebrow and tilt of the head asked the question.**

**"Yeah, well, I discharged myself. I need to speak to you; can I come in?"**

**McKay stepped back, ushering the way into the dimly lit room. "Of course; you're always welcome, you know that." A genuine smile of pleasure again. Sheppard felt that that smile was possibly the most unnerving thing that had happened today. "Kate's not back yet, but I'm sure she won't mind if you stay for dinner." **

**OK, for 'unnerving' that statement just won, hands down. **

**"McKay, what the _hell_ is going on here? Who is Kate? And where is Teyla?" **

**Confusion and surprise vied for prominence "Kate is _Kate_: my wife. Come on John, we've been married for as long as you've known us. Who's 'Taylor'?" John stared at Rodney as if he had grown another head. "Look John, you'd better sit down. I'll call Carson; if you have concussion, you should be back in the infirmary."**

**"No McKay! I should _not_ be in the infirmary; I should finding out what the hell is going on! And I need you to help me." The last was almost a whisper as Sheppard sank to sit on the low, comfortable couch in the middle of the room. The slow background jazz only seemed to emphasise the feeling of wrongness that pervaded everything.**

**Rodney crouched down before him and gazed intently up unto his bloodshot eyes. Worry coloured his voice. "John, I really think that you should be with Carson…" He held up his hand to forestall Sheppard's outburst. "But, if you don't want to see him, at least talk to Dr Zelenka."**

**"McKay, this is wrong." Sheppard dropped his aching head to his hands, rubbing his temples with both thumbs. "All of this is…is just…_wrong_. You aren't married; Carson isn't English; and Teyla has been a member of our team since we first arrived here. When you, Ford, Teyla and I went through the gate this morning, everything was _right_."**

**"John, you've had a bad shock and a nasty blow on the head. Let's just think this through, shall we?" Rodney spoke quietly and gently, as if to a frightened child. "For a start, I haven't been through the gate in over four weeks. I'm a research scientist, not a field worker. Your team is Ford, Markham and Dr Zelenka. It always has been." The jazz tape ended, dying away into a deafening silence.**

**"Rodney, I'm not imagining this. Things have _changed_."**

**McKay picked himself up off the floor, as a heavily accented voice sounded from a two-way radio on the table.**

**"Rodney? Are you home? Zelenka here."**

**Rodney took up the radio. "Dr Zelenka, can I call you back? I have a visitor."**

**"Is it John?" Zelenka's voice sounded anxious. **

**Rodney cocked his head at Sheppard.**

**"Rodney, is Colonel Sheppard with you? Dr Beckett just informed me that he had gone missing from infirmary and may have been looking for you."**

**Sheppard and McKay's eyes met; then Sheppard silently removed his dog-tags and passed them over to McKay.**

**He had to hand it to McKay; his eyes narrowed but he didn't blink as he read the tags.**

**"Well 'Major' Sheppard; I'm pleased to meet you." Rodney held out a hand and John shook it, his eyes closed in relief. "Now, let's see if we can find out what has happened to you. And, equally to the point, what has happened to our John Sheppard."**


	2. Prologue b

Sheppard dived through the gate as the Wraith dart fired; twisting as he fell to protect his injured arm. The whine of the dart cut off abruptly as the shield closed behind him; followed almost immediately by the sound of impact as the dart slammed through the gate and into the shield.

The warmth of the Gateroom struck him as he rolled onto his back and glanced around, anxiously checking that the rest of his team had arrived safely. Ford was still facing the gate, P90 at the ready and a small knot of scientists including Grodin and a remarkably dishevelled McKay stood over a prone figure in a charcoal jacket; but whether it was Zelenka or Markham, he couldn't see from his position. Groaning, Sheppard sat upright and tried to climb to his feet beckoning Ford to help him. A medical team led by Dr Beckett ran into view and, with a practiced ease, Beckett checked the fallen figure and started issuing instructions to his staff. With his ears still ringing from the blow to his head, John was aware that something didn't sound quite right, but, as he passed into unconsciousness, the significance eluded him.

* * *

Zelenka opened the door. He stood with a small, intricate device in one hand and a look of surprise on his face.

"Major Sheppard? What can I do for you?"

"What you can _do_ for me, Radek, is tell me exactly what is going on around here!"

Sheppard stepped past the stunned scientist and into the room. Zelenka glanced left and right along the corridor as if expecting to see others in on the joke, before turning back into his room with a frown. He watched, astonished, as Sheppard helped himself to a glass of Zelenka's private - and, so he had believed, secret - supply of moonshine, then threw himself into a large, comfortable armchair, without spilling a drop.

"Major Sheppard?"

"What's with the 'Major', Radek?" Sheppard emptied half the glass at a gulp, turning to stare at the confused Czech, who still stood by the door, pushing his glasses straight with the back of his hand.

"Er…'John', if you prefer?" Zelenka began to wonder if this was the first glass of moonshine that the Major had consumed this evening, or if Dr Beckett had missed something significant about Sheppard's obvious head wound.

"I mean that Beckett called me 'Major' earlier. And, correct me if I'm wrong here, but until this evening, hasn't Dr Beckett always been English?" An almost haunted look in Sheppard's eyes alerted the scientist to the fact that, despite the flippant tone, he was talking to a man close to panic.

"Ma…John, I'll just call Dr Beckett and we can sort this out together, yes?"

"No! I don't want to see Beckett." Sheppard leapt to his feet, and took a pace towards Zelenka.

Zelenka took an involuntary step backwards; for the first time ever physically intimidated by the larger man.

"OK, no problem, we don't do that." Zelenka sidestepped around the room, unconsciously keeping large items of furniture between himself and his strange visitor. "But shall I at least contact Dr McKay? Maybe he can help." Help calm you down, Zelenka thought, or at least keep you occupied while I get more practical assistance.

"Yeah, well, for a good meal and a pleasant evening's company, Rodney would be my first choice, but this is urgent, so I came to you."

Zelenka blinked, amazed at this feature of McKay's relationship with the Major. Something that he was previously totally unaware of.

"Er, it is very…um…confusing…of you to say that, Major, but thank you." Zelenka surreptitiously backed towards the low, cluttered table which held, among other things, his two-way radio.

"Again with the 'Major' Radek. As far as I am aware, I am still a Colonel in the United States Air Force. At least, I was when we gated to M3H - 136 earlier today, but since we came back _not a damn thing is making any sense!"_

"Souhlasim!¹" Zelenka muttered under his breath as he glanced over his shoulder at the radio, so close behind him.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Zelenka's head snapped round. "You speak Czech?"

"Ne, moje čeština je na nic,² as you delight in telling me."

Intrigued, Zelenka's shoulders relaxed slightly. Maybe the Major wasn't drunk or concussed. Maybe there was something weird going on. However, his hand still sought the radio behind his back.

"Can you prove any of this?"

"Prove any of _what?_ _Every_thing is wrong, but you can't see it."

Zelenka slowly picked up the radio and brought it round in front of himself. "OK, 'vic hlav vic vi.³' I'm calling Rodney or Dr Beckett. Which would you prefer?"

"Not Beckett." Sheppard tossed back the remaining moonshine then carefully placed the glass on Zelenka's table, forcing himself to appear calm now that the scientist had finally started taking the situation seriously. "But if you think that Rodney won't get fazed by this, then call him."

Ignoring the odd turn of phrase, the doctor thankfully called McKay.

"Rodney? Dr Zelenka here. Can you come over to my quarters straight away please? There is problem." A quick, nervous smile flashed at Sheppard.

"If it's that scanner you were working on, it'll have to wait. I'm down in the infirmary with Dr Beckett. Major Sheppard is missing and, according to his latest scans, he is not who he appears to be. Sergeant Bates has teams out now."

"Ah yes, that is what I want to see you about."

* * *

Souhlasim ¹ – I agree

Ne, moje čeština je na nic ² – No, my Czech sucks.

'vic hlav vic vi ³ - 'more heads know more' – two heads are better than one


	3. Chapter 1a

This story isn't leading where I expected it to. Sorry.

* * *

**As Sheppard and McKay walked through the corridors of Atlantis towards the briefing room, Rodney brought John up to speed on the, well the, _realities_ of this reality.**

**"So, Dr Elizabeth Weir is in command here too?"**

**"Yes. Elizabeth was in charge of SGC on Earth for a short while, and when this opportunity came up, she was the obvious choice for team leader."**

**John smiled to himself; you can't keep a good woman down, even in another universe.**

**"But Beckett isn't Scottish?"**

**"No, it's an odd one, that." Rodney frowned slightly as he tried to remember the details. "He was born in Scotland, I'm sure, but his family moved south when he was still young. He grew up in...Warwickshire, I think he said. Some small village near Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare, you know?...You do know Shakespeare?"**

**Sheppard smiled, "Yes, Shakespeare we have. Ours was an Elizabethan playwright."**

**"Yep, that's the one." **

**Sheppard found this Rodney incredibly easy to talk to. An air of relaxation seemed to radiate from him as they discussed the differences and similarities between their two worlds.**

**"One thing missing from your Atlantis is Teyla." The implied question hung in the air.**

**"Huh, yes, you mentioned him before, but I'm afraid the name..."**

**"Her."**

**Rodney barked out a laugh. "Not Teyla Emmagan, the leader of the Athosians? You were rather smitten with her for quite a while, as I recall. Sorry," Rodney put his hand to his chest and bowed slightly to John, a glint in his eye, "I mean _our_ John Sheppard of course. So, _you_ managed to pry her away from her people and bring her back to Atlantis then? Well done." McKay gave Sheppard a genial slap on the back and a sly grin.**

**"It wasn't quite like that." Sheppard filed that away for further investigation later. Just what had happened between his other self and Teyla was intriguing. "All of the Athosians came to Atlantis when the Wraith attacked Athos. They're mostly on the mainland now, but Teyla stayed with us."**

**"But why did they leave Athos? The Wraith are few and far between. They don't usually hit the same world twice for years, and, from what we've been told, they're not expected to wake from their hibernation period for decades. Your encounter earlier today was the first we have had for several months. In fact, Dr Zelenka is confident that, by the time they wake fully, we will have found a way to power the shield and be fairly well protected."**

**"Zelenka?" **

**"Czech guy, wears glasses, about so tall." Rodney held out his hand at the appropriate height. "Dr Zelenka is the head of the scientific contingent here on Atlantis." Rodney saw the surprise on Sheppard's face. "I take it that that isn't the case with you? Who's your chief scientist?"**

**"You are." Sheppard stepped forward another two paces before noticing that Rodney had stopped dead. He couldn't imagine what he had said to cause this.**

**"Oh no, I don't think that would be a good idea." Rodney's voice became distant. And a slightly glazed look came to his eyes. "I'm not too good with responsibility."**

**"Hah! McKay seems to thrive on the stress; I must admit that he is a great deal more...manic than you, but he's a damn good..." Sheppard trailed off at the look on McKay's face. He knew that one well, it said 'something dreadful is happening to someone, and there is nothing I can do about it'. "McKay? Rodney? What's the matter?" Sheppard took the man gently by the shoulders and looked into his eyes, but there was no-one looking back.**

**"Not good, not good at all." McKay was obviously talking purely to himself now. His blue eyes suddenly stared straight at Sheppard. "How does he relax?" The non-sequitur took Sheppard aback but the urgency of the question demanded an answer.**

**"He doesn't; not so you'd notice. I think I saw him sleep once..." Sheppard tried to joke his way through to the man, but his eyes were drawn to McKay's left hand which had started to twitch, as if rubbing an invisible coin.**

**Sheppard turned around, looking for help and took the last few steps toward the door to the briefing room, which opened automatically before him. Drs Weir, Zelenka and Beckett were seated around the conference table, along with Ford, Markham and Bates. All eyes turned to the two men outside the door and conversation stopped. Almost immediately Dr Beckett leapt to his feet, stepping briskly to Rodney's side and steering him gently into the room.**

**"Sit, Rodney!" It was a definite order which McKay obeyed, sitting straight-backed on the nearest chair. Beckett reached into McKay's shirt pocket, taking out a strip of tablets and popping one free. Zelenka passed over a glass of water and Sheppard watched as McKay took the glass and pill in shaking hands.**

**Minutes passed in silence, until McKay managed a wan smile and a weak "Sorry."**

**"Colonel Sheppard, a moment please!" Beckett pointed towards the still open door, flashing Sheppard a look of intense anger. A thoroughly confused Sheppard glanced back at McKay before following the physician from the room.**

**"It's 'Major' Sheppard, doctor; and, before you say anything, I'd like to apologise for my behaviour in the infirmary earlier. I wasn't myself. Well, I was, but you weren't. OK, maybe you were too, but you weren't the you I was expecting..."**

**During this speech Dr Beckett's anger ebbed from his face as he realised that this man was totally unaware of the consequences of his actions.**

**"Major, there's no need to apologise to me. I'm sure that your reaction was quite understandable under the circumstances. But I must ask you what you have said to upset Dr McKay so."**

**Sheppard was finding it bizarre to hear an English voice coming from the Scottish Doctor, but answered. "We were discussing my world's Rodney. I told McKay that he was Chief Scientific Officer and he just lit out. He seemed to think that it was a 'bad idea'"**

**"OK." Beckett reached a decision. "It will be necessary to tell you a little of Rodney's medical history. None of this is confidential as the whole base is aware of it and acts accordingly, I would ask you to do the same." **

**He paused, collecting his thoughts. This man only needed to know the bare minimum to understand the situation. If Rodney wanted to tell him the rest, that was his decision. "I will explain in layman's terms if I may." He continued in his precise, English voice. **

**"His first heart attack occurred when he was 27. It was his body's way of telling him to take it easy. Being Rodney, he ignored it. His second attack and breakdown three years later forced the issue. He still isn't over it, but now he has learned to relax and, with medication, is an important member of the scientific community here. His flashes of pure genius persuaded Dr Zelenka to take the risk and bring him along, but, as you have observed, stress or even the prospect of stress can bring on an episode. Given an intellectual problem, he is the best we have and probably your only chance of getting home."**

**Sheppard attempted to take this in.**

**"To be honest with you," Beckett carried on, "I'm surprised that today's events did not precipitate an attack earlier. However, Rodney assured me that he was handling things well. But, in truth, he is not always the best judge of that."**

**Silence.**


	4. Chapter 1b

"…So, Teyla is here on Atlantis?" Colonel Sheppard was unsure how he felt about this. Getting Teyla to come back to Atlantis with him had been his main aim for several months. But waking the Wraith from hibernation to do it seemed a bit drastic, even for him.

"Yep, I don't think that she will be at this meeting though. Dr Beckett said that he was keeping her in infirmary overnight for observation. She has broken leg, but will be available for visiting later." Zelenka smiled at Sheppard over his glasses. It was patently obvious how the Colonel felt about Teyla.

The two men continued along the corridor until automatic doors opened and Sheppard and Zelenka entered the briefing room. Drs Weir and Beckett along with Ford and Bates were sitting at the conference table in heated discussion. Also seated, holding a metallic beaker in his left hand and typing frantically into a laptop with his right, was a hunched figure radiating nervous energy.

"Rodney?"

He looked up, his face full of life. "Ah, Colonel Sheppard, Dr Zelenka has already briefed me on the basics, but if you could describe to me exactly what happened immediately before you entered the gate on M3H - 136, that would be most helpful."

_"Rodney?"_

McKay's face fell as he caught the incredulous tone and leapt to his own conclusion. "Oh no... I'm dead in your world, aren't I?"

"No, you're not dead Rodney. I would have mentioned it earlier." Aw hell, McKay's expression rang alarm bells for the Colonel. He checked for the tell-tale signs and flashed a look at Dr Beckett who, incredibly, hadn't reacted. Here was Rodney, in the throws of a panic attack and no-one had even moved. It was unbelievable. Sheppard watched as Rodney absently rubbed his left bicep. Oh no, not that too.

Acting hurriedly, Sheppard stepped over to Rodney and took the beaker out of his unresisting hand. A quick sniff confirmed that it was coffee; strong coffee. McKay stared at him in astonishment, as he placed it out of reach on the table.

"Lt Ford, escort Dr McKay to the infirmary please." Now, _that_ got a reaction. A sharp intake of breath from Zelenka, standing beside him; an expression of total bewilderment from Dr Weir; a look on Rodney's face as if he had been slapped.

And from Ford a dubious, "Sir?"

"Lt Ford; that was an order."

"With all due respect, Sir." Sgt Bates' voice sounded unnaturally loud in the stunned silence. "You are not authorised to give orders here."

"Someone has to be giving orders, Sergeant!" During this exchange, Dr Beckett had finally reacted. He walked to McKay and started checking him over.

"You OK, Rodney?" Beckett moved swiftly and confidently through a basic check-up.

"Apparently not, Doctor." McKay allowed Beckett to manhandle him for several seconds before slapping his hand away in annoyance.

"Ach, you're fine." Beckett turned to frown at Sheppard. "Would you like to discuss this here or in private, Colonel?"

OK, here it comes, this is the bit where Beckett and I have the shouting match, thought Sheppard as he turned and left the room.

Once in the corridor, Dr Beckett confronted Sheppard; annoyed at having his professional judgement questioned in such a way, but curious as to the reasons behind it.

"Would you please tell me what just happened in there?" The Scottish brogue brought John up short. This wasn't his world and he felt out of his depth, out of control; not a pleasant sensation for a man used to being in command.

"Look, Beckett, I know things are a little different here, but when I saw Rodney in that state, I had to do something, didn't I?"

"What state? That was perfectly normal behaviour for Rodney."

"That was perfectly normal behaviour?" Come on Beckett, the guy was twitching like an angry cat.

"For Rodney, aye."

"What about the obvious pain in his arm? Was that normal?"

"Colonel, you weren't the only one I had to patch up after today's mission. Rodney took a bad whack on the arm. Why? What did you think it was?"

"I assumed it was his heart."

Ah, thought Beckett, well that explains a lot.

"There's nothing wrong with Rodney's heart. I would certainly know by now if there was. And, if there was, do you really think that I would allow him through that damn Stargate on a daily basis?"

"I'm sorry doctor. Where I'm from, Rodney has a serious heart condition and is subject to severe panic attacks. I did what I thought necessary."

"No need to apologise, son. You did right. But for God's sake, don't tell Rodney. I have enough trouble treating his own accidents and allergies, without adding someone else's."

"Thanks Beckett. Is there anything else I should know about? I don't want to make a complete fool of myself...again."

* * *

"Am I the only one who fully understands that he is_ not_ Major Sheppard?" Back inside the briefing room, McKay was becoming exasperated. Why couldn't anyone else see that this man should be treated the same as any other unknown on the base. "We need to acquire as much information from him as possible to get the Major back."

"You're just pissed 'cause he took your coffee away." Ford muttered, head down.

"Yes, you're right Lieutenant. I'm basing my conclusions entirely on his lack of manners." You could cut the sarcasm with a blunt knife.

"Gentlemen." Elizabeth smiled to herself, aware that there was a grain of truth in both men's statements.

"Look, for all we know, he is 'evil' Sheppard."

"I don't think so Rodney." Dr Zelenka felt that he had to intercede. "I have spent some time with him and he is basically John Sheppard."

"No doctor, he _isn't_. That's my point. Despite appearances. We know _nothing_ about that man."

McKay turned to face Dr Weir, "Elizabeth, you must treat him as a possible threat to Atlantis."

Behind his back, Zelenka made a face. He almost wished that Ford _had_ escorted McKay from the room. He had enjoyed talking to Colonel Sheppard. It had reminded him of his days in Prague when he was in charge of his own facility and didn't have to work alongside a Ješita¹ like McKay. No, that was unfair. He enjoyed working with Rodney ... some of the time... most of the time in fact. It was a challenge, both to keep up with him and to keep from thumping him.

"...If that is OK with you doctor?" Zelenka realised that Dr Weir had been speaking to him.

"I'm sorry?" He flashed a quick grin.

"Rodney was suggesting that you might like to act as liaison with Colonel Sheppard while he is here, since you appear to be part of his team in his reality." Zelenka turned in surprise towards McKay who was wearing his 'martyr' look. Ha, he evidently didn't like the idea that he was not universally in charge – or should that be multiversally?

"Yes, yes, is fine by me."

* * *

Ješita¹ – smug/arrogant man. 


	5. Chapter 2a

In my head, this was a light little action/adventure. Then it all went a bit dark.

Dobré ráno¹ - Good Morning

oOo

Chapter 2a

* * *

**Major Sheppard woke from a disconcerting dream. Something about a Wraith dart, a parallel universe, and a squid on a motorbike. Hmm, the squid bit was out of place somehow.**

**He opened his eyes and gazed up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Oh crap.**

**Rolling out of bed with a groan, he thought back over the previous evening. After seeing Rodney safely back to his rooms Sheppard had stayed up with Zelenka, going through everything that had happened on M3H – 136 and drinking something that tasted like paint-stripper.**

**Sleeping in Colonel Sheppard's quarters had been out of the question. It seemed almost incestuous. Rodney had earlier offered him a bed for the night but Sheppard had declined, with thanks. He had put the man through enough without imposing on him. So he had ended up in a spare room; one within staggering distance.**

**Now it was morning and time to find a way home. **

**After a hurried wash and brush up, the Major made his way to the mess hall, expecting to find McKay already there.**

**Walking in through the doors, Sheppard noticed several familiar faces, and many more that were unfamiliar. Word had obviously spread and the nods and smiles were friendly but curious.**

**Elizabeth and Dr Zelenka were seated together, busy in discussion, and John served himself breakfast before joining them.**

**"Dobré ráno¹, John." Zelenka glanced up at the Major as he put down his tray and took a seat.**

**"Good morning, Major Sheppard. We were just discussing your little predicament." Elizabeth's welcoming smile lit up her face. "It reminded me of a situation that SG1 once encountered. I remember reading the reports, but the details escape me. In brief, Dr Daniel Jackson found what he called a 'Quantum Mirror' on P3X- 233 which allowed passage to other universes..."**

**Zelenka interrupted, "Yes, I am currently working on theory that the Gate itself became a variety of 'Quantum Mirror'." He grinned happily. "It is most intriguing problem. We have, of course, sent a team back to M3H - 136 and are certain that the Colonel did enter the gate in this reality. We are hoping that you and he have swapped places. If he has been transported to a random universe, our task will be significantly harder."**

**"From what Rodney has said, it would be virtually impossible." Elizabeth shot a reproachful look at Zelenka.**

**"Yes, but Rodney is pessimist." Zelenka's grin continued, although Weir was genuinely concerned.**

**Sheppard swallowed a mouthful of strong black coffee. That reminded him, "How is Rodney this morning?" **

**"He's fine Major, thank you for your concern." Weir replied. "He's checking over a selection of ancient devices which we hope may have some similarities with the 'Quantum Mirror'." **

**"Is there anything I can do?" Sheppard asked, praying that no-one suggested that he spend the day staring at a computer screen. His head ached abominably and the black coffee wasn't helping at all. What was that moonshine of Zelenka's made from anyway?**

**Elizabeth looked at Radek who gave a brief nod. "Well John," She said, "We were hoping that you could spend some time helping Rodney; assuming that you have the ancient gene." **

**Sheppard breathed a sigh of relief. A few hours initialising ancient doohickies would give his head time to clear. Providing they didn't require too much concentration. "Sounds great."**

* * *

**Sheppard had come to the conclusion that scientist's labs reflected their personalities. In his Atlantis, McKay's workplace was strewn with partly dismantled devices hooked up to numerous diagnostic tools. Give Rodney a piece of equipment and he had to know how it worked; now, everything, all at once, in a sort of organised chaos. Here, it was organised without the chaos. Each ancient object was neatly labelled ready to be investigated one at a time. **

**McKay stood at a bench frowning intently at a small device attached to a laptop via a cat's cradle of wires. Totally absorbed, he failed to notice Sheppard standing in the doorway. **

**Music played quietly in the background. Jazz again, but more upbeat. Mmm, nice. Sheppard listened for several minutes to the interweaving melodies, resolving to take a copy back with him. As the piece ended, he knocked gently on the door jamb.**

**McKay looked up from his work and smiled. "Hi John. Have you been sent to keep me company?"**

**"Dr Weir thought that you might welcome some help activating these gadgets." Sheppard entered the room and walked over to McKay. The scientist waved a hand at a bench containing a collection of devices, most of which were covered with small sticky labels. Sheppard picked up the nearest and read 'power boost? - use with care.' "But I see that you are doing fine without me."**

**"These didn't need initialising, but that group could do with the magic touch." McKay indicated around two dozen items further down the bench. Most of them were small black boxes, with no obvious buttons or switches.**

**"Having trouble with these?" John put down what was possibly a 'power boost' and picked up a small hand-held black box. He turned it over wondering what it did and immediately ancient writing scrolled across the top surface. He passed it to Rodney.**

**"I don't have the ATA gene." Rodney said, with some regret. "Carson refuses to give me the treatment. He's worried about how it would react with the meds." He peered at the tiny writing and started making notes on a jotter. "I've been working for some time on the properties of the Atlantis gate. We discovered quite early on that it was designed to accommodate extra crystals." **

**"To allow for the eighth symbol." Sheppard picked up another box and concentrated on activating it. His headache was starting to clear but his mouth was still dry; he looked around the room for coffee. Damn, wrong Rodney.**

**McKay responded enthusiastically, "Yeah, but not only that. All of these objects appear to be prototypes designed to be incorporated into the gate control. For example, this little fellow here seems to be a modification for the DHD; it allows you to dial your own address. God knows why. Dr Zelenka's hoping that one of them produces the 'Quantum Mirror' effect." He took the latest box from the Major's hand and placed it on the bench.**

**"What makes him think that?" Sheppard noticed that Rodney was obviously not prepared to stick his neck out on this one.**

**"If it is possible to create a Quantum Wormhole using the gate, and it obviously is, then it's likely that the ancients knew about it. If they did, they would have investigated a method of controlling the phenomenon. If they built some kind of device to do that, then it's here ... somewhere." His sweeping gesture incorporated not only the items on the benches, but the whole of Atlantis.**

**Sheppard's face fell; there were an awful lot of 'ifs' in there. McKay saw the expression and put his arm around the Major's shoulder. "Don't worry, John. If it's here, we'll find it ... eventually."**

* * *

**The next few hours settled into a routine. Major Sheppard initialised a device and handed it over to McKay, who then hooked it up to various bits of apparatus, and made copious notes on the jotter, before finally writing out a sticky label and moving on to the next item on the bench. **

**Lunch was a large plate of turkey sandwiches, brought in by a young female lab assistant, who smiled demurely at McKay before leaving the room. Sheppard picked up a sandwich and took a bite. It tasted like fresh meat, not the reconstituted stuff he was used to. Did that mean that they were breeding turkeys here on Atlantis? If so, he wondered if he could take a few eggs back to start his own turkey farm.**

**It was no good, after a morning alternating between concentration and boredom, John was starting to loose it. He cast about for a general topic of conversation as they ate. **

**"So, how did you meet Kate?"**

**McKay seemed surprised at the question, but answered readily. "Pure luck really. She was dating my shrink."**

**Sheppard took another bite of his sandwich as Rodney continued.**

**"One afternoon I realised that my life was a mess, so I put the cat out, ran a bath, found myself a good, sharp knife and lay down in the warm water. Then for some reason I decided to call my therapist, probably to tell him what a lousy job he'd done, but he was out and Kate picked up. She listened to me; kept me talking until the paramedics arrived. The old lady next door had found my cat scratching to be let in. She knew I was home; she'd heard me running the bath, but when she couldn't get an answer she called an ambulance. She thought I'd had another heart attack. I nearly gave her one when they found me." **

**Crap. Not such a good subject then. **

**"I wouldn't have blamed Kate if she'd run a mile after that, but she didn't. I mean, what would _you_ do if someone rang you up and slit their wrists at you?"**

**How the hell do you respond to that?**

**"That's it!" Rodney's cry broke the painful silence. His melancholy changing instantly to excitement. "It's been nagging at me. Why would you ever want to dial your own gate?"**

**Sheppard was taken totally by surprise by the unexpected change in direction. "That would be..." **

**Rodney wasn't listening. "It must allow you to open a wormhole between two identical gate addresses. It doesn't allow us to create a _Quantum_ wormhole, but at least if we do, you can..."**

**"Phone home?"**

**"Exactly."**

* * *

**The afternoon passed more quickly. McKay, realising that he had seriously disturbed the Major, tried to keep up a conversation. The problem was that when he was concentrating, he spoke in technobabble.**

**"Of course, when you get back to your Atlantis, you'll have to avoid meeting yourself, unless you're prepared to risk a temporal entropic cascade failure at the cellular level." Rodney said absently, as he delicately hooked an object about the size of a shoe box up to his laptop.**

**"Ah, if only it were that simple." Sheppard deadpanned.**

**"Huh?"**

**The more Major Sheppard talked with this Rodney McKay, the more he missed his own version. McKay would have appreciated the joke but snapped something back, straight-faced. It was fun sometimes to just rile him; wind him up, take out the key, sit back and enjoy the ride. That was not an option here. He felt like he was walking on eggshells. He could do serious damage to this Rodney with a misplaced word. His McKay was indestructible.**

**"Good God! I don't believe it. This is it!" John's head snapped up at McKay's shout.**

**"What?"**

**"Look!" McKay pointed triumphantly at the laptop screen. "A Quantum wormhole; well, a virtual one at least." John caught the excitement and hurried over to stare at the screen, expecting to see the familiar twisting wormhole. But all it showed was a column of numbers.**

**"Are you sure?" He couldn't keep the doubt from his voice.**

**"I'll have to run it passed Peter and Dr Zelenka, but yeah, pretty sure." McKay slapped Sheppard's shoulder, a grin plastered across his face. "Hey John; looks like you're going home."**

* * *

**Within half an hour, Elizabeth's office contained Grodin, Zelenka, Sheppard, McKay and Dr Weir herself. The shoe box sized 'Quantum Interface' was linked to Rodney's laptop and the three scientists were huddled around the screen.**

**"Yes, but if it always overloads as soon as it is initiated..." McKay began.**

**"Surely, that doesn't matter, as long as the Quantum wormhole has been established..." Grodin interrupted, pressing a key.**

**"Ah, now look! It has failed again." Zelenka slapped Grodin's hand away from the keyboard.**

**"Gentlemen." Dr Weir's voice held a note of command. "If we could all take a seat." She waited until the three men settled down. "Now, Radek, what can you tell me?"**

**Zelenka stood up and turned the laptop to face Elizabeth. "As I surmised, the Ancients were aware of the Quantum phenomenon and produced this," He gestured the box, "To take advantage of it." **

**Dr Weir peered at the computer screen, her eyes narrowed. "Let's just suppose that all I see is a column of numbers."**

**"It allows the creation of a Quantum wormhole using the mechanism of the Stargate." Zelenka continued. "With this attached to the control panel, and the modified DHD installed, we need only dial Atlantis gate address to open a link to Major Sheppard's world!" He grinned happily and patted the laptop.**

**"But I thought that there were a multitude of alternate worlds." Weir was used to Zelenka's endless optimism, and needed to be reassured to her own satisfaction. "How can you be sure of connecting to the correct one?"**

**"That is where we struck lucky." Peter Grodin's grin mirrored Zelenka's. "The link has already been established, we just need to_ re_-connect the wormhole"**

**"There is a problem, however." Rodney offered apologetically. "Each time we run the simulation, the Interface overloads. So we will only get one chance at this before burning out the circuits."**

**"Can you fix the problem?" Dr Weir asked. "I'd like to at least try a dry run before we ask Major Sheppard to risk himself on this venture."**

**Grodin replied. "Possibly, but it could take several weeks and we are rapidly running out of time. As the two realities inevitably diverge, the link weakens and our chance of establishing a wormhole will be lost."**

**"A thought occurs." Sheppard joined in the discussion. "Assuming that this works, how do you get_ Colonel_ Sheppard back?"**

**"Don't worry Major, we have not forgotten him." Zelenka responded. "Dr Jackson's Quantum Mirror worked both ways. We have no reason to believe that this Quantum wormhole does not. Once home, you will have a maximum of 38 minutes to return our John Sheppard through the gate."**

**Sheppard nodded sagely, "While avoiding a temporal entropic cascade failure at the cellular level, I assume" He took great delight at the look on all four faces.**

**Elizabeth smiled and took back control. "So, we need to do this as soon as possible, right?" She looked around the room at the nodding scientists. "OK. Rodney, how long will it take you to install these devices into the gate control?"**

**"With help from Peter, within the hour."**

**"Off you go then." As Grodin and McKay left the room, Elizabeth turned to Sheppard. "Well Major, if you are happy with this, you could be home soon. The final decision to go will be yours."**

* * *

**Less than an hour later, Major Sheppard found himself standing before the Stargate, ready to transmit his IDC. Behind him in the control room, McKay was making the last checks on the connections between the Interface and the gate controls. He felt uneasy; there seemed to be several circuits in the device that did not connect to the gate, but none of the simulations had indicated their purpose. **

**Now, the modified DHD was in place and all that was left was to dial out – or in; back to the Atlantis gate.**

**Dr Weir entered to control room and took up a position between McKay and Grodin.**

**A soft humming came from the Interface seated on the dialling console.**

**"I think that we're all ready now, Rodney. Please dial Atlantis."**

**McKay punched in the first symbol. The humming increased slightly in volume and the box itself began to vibrate. Rodney unconsciously placed his left had on the top of the box to steady it as he continued to dial.**

**All eyes were on the gate as the last chevron encoded. Elizabeth found that she was holding her breath as Rodney reached over the console and pressed the control to engage the wormhole.**

**But, instead of the usual sound of the gate activating, there came the noise of a body slumping to the ground.**

**Elizabeth was the first to react. Kneeling beside the fallen man, she gently turned him over. The blue lips told her all that she needed to know as she frantically felt his neck for a pulse.**

**"Medical emergency!" Her voice sounded harsh in her own ears. "I need a crash team in the control room, now!"**

**Without waiting for a reply, she began CPR on Rodney's still form.**


	6. Chapter 2b

Spoiler – SG1 Season 1 "Solitudes"

Chapter 2b

* * *

"This is very similar to a situation encountered by SG1 on P4A - 771. A huge blast of energy, in this case the discharge from the Wraith dart, causing an established wormhole to divert to the nearest available Stargate. On Earth, this was in Antarctica, but here, the 'nearest' gate was in another reality." Rodney McKay paced around his lab as he summarised his findings to Colonel Sheppard and Dr Zelenka. His ever-present laptop lay open on a bench, surrounded by partially disassembled pieces of equipment, note pads and empty coffee mugs.

"That's it?" Sheppard snapped back. "No discussion, no debate, just 'McKay says and it must be so'?"

"It's the only logical conclusion, Colonel!" McKay's angry reply raised the temperature in the room by several degrees.

Zelenka held up his hands in surrender. McKay and Sheppard had been arguing non-stop from the moment they had met this morning. At first it had been amusing to watch the two of them bristling like angry tomcats, but enough was enough.

"Colonel Sheppard, I suggest that we leave Dr McKay to his work." Zelenka realised that the only option was to separate them, before they came to blows. He knew that Major Sheppard had often jokingly threatened to shoot McKay. That was unlikely to happen here, partly because the Colonel was not armed, but a fist fight between this pair was a real possibility.

"Yes, please go." McKay turned his back on the two men and started typing into his laptop.

Unaccustomed to being 'dismissed' by a civilian, Sheppard fumed as he stalked out of McKay's lab.

"How can anyone work with that arrogant bastard?" He demanded of Zelenka as soon as they were out of the room.

Zelenka felt compelled to defend his colleague. "McKay's not that bad when you get to know him." He wondered if he should have had his fingers crossed when he said that.

"_Really_?" Sarcasm or genuine disbelief, it was difficult to tell, the anger masked everything.

"Not ... _that_ bad." Zelenka removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been a trying morning. "Please remember, Colonel, that McKay is also having hard time with this situation. His friend is missing, and he is trying to get him back."

"Your Sheppard is friends with _that_?" Sheppard gestured back towards the lab.

Zelenka considered the question before replying, reflectively. "Very close friends, by all appearances. They have been through a lot together."

Zelenka's thoughtful tone broke through Sheppard's anger. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "I'm sorry. I just look at that man and see my Rodney McKay. It's hard to believe that they're the same person."

"They are not. We are all the result of our experiences. Rodney McKay is no exception." He grinned up at Sheppard, "Come on, Colonel, let us go and see how Teyla is feeling today."

* * *

Alone in his lab, Rodney accessed the ancient database and resumed his research. He found it hard to concentrate and reached absently for the beaker of coffee that always seemed to be to hand these days. That man, who looked so much like the Major, had provoked him in a way that he had believed impossible, now. What was it about him that was so infuriating? Zelenka obviously didn't have a problem dealing with him, so why should he? Granted, the Major could be annoying when he wanted to, but maybe that was the problem; Major Sheppard _knew_ when he was pushing McKay's buttons. It had become almost a game between them. Sheppard pushed, McKay pushed back and, somehow, it was fun. This John Sheppard wasn't playing right.

McKay grinned to himself as that last thought crossed his mind. 'I don't like him, he's not _playing_ right!' What was he, seven years old?

Back to the problem in hand. A preliminary search of the ancient database had revealed nothing of interest, but, since only a fraction had so far been deciphered, that didn't mean that there was nothing of interest to be revealed.

McKay grimaced as he took a mouthful of tepid coffee and settled down for some serious study.

* * *

Several hours later, Colonel Sheppard and Dr Zelenka were in Zelenka's lab when they received a call from Dr Weir, asking them to attend a briefing in her office immediately.

Sheppard's meeting with Teyla in the infirmary had not gone according to plan. He had been charming; she had been polite but distant. There was no spark there and Sheppard had got angry. Then Teyla had got angry; then Dr Beckett had got angry and thrown Sheppard and Zelenka out.

And now he had just spent an immensely boring day in Zelenka's lab, watching him working on his laptop. There had been a brief moment when Zelenka had discovered an entry in the ancient database which seemed to imply that whatever had happened, had happened at least once before. And somehow this meant that Colonel and Major Sheppard had most likely swapped places rather than both ending up in random universes. But, as Radek tried to explain the physics, Sheppard's brain just switched off.

He could never understand how a field worker like Zelenka could get so involved in the mind-numbing tedium of research.

Sheppard was starting to hate this place. He took a sheet of paper from the table and began to fold it. Back in his own Atlantis, he would be out now, doing something. A second sheet of paper, meticulously creased. On a mission or piloting a Jumper, or even exploring the city if he got too bored. A third sheet, the creases perfect. Here, he had nothing to do and it galled. When he felt like this at home, the solution was simple. A few hours in Rodney's company would leave him calm and relaxed. It had suddenly struck him as odd that he could sit doing nothing while Rodney worked and that was relaxing, but sitting here while Zelenka worked was maddening.

Finally, _finally_, Radek looked up from his laptop and appeared astonished to see Sheppard, seated at the table surrounded by paper darts.

* * *

Dr Weir was talking animatedly to Grodin and McKay as Sheppard and Zelenka entered her office.

A device about the size of a shoe box lay on the table, connected to McKay's laptop by a network of coloured wires. A smaller hand-held sat beside it.

"...So, how do we re-establish the Quantum wormhole?..." Dr Weir's question trailed off as she noticed the two men walk in. "Colonel, Doctor, please be seated. Colonel Sheppard, I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear that we may have found a way to return you home."

"To answer your question, Elizabeth, "McKay responded, "When Major Carter dialled the Colorado gate from Antarctica, the gate attempted to connect but couldn't; it got a 'busy signal'. With this little gadget," He pointed to the hand-held, "You can dial out to an identical gate address." He smiled to himself. "I've been wondering for a while why you would ever want to."

Sheppard dragged up a chair and sat facing Weir. Zelenka, meanwhile, positioned himself behind Grodin and began studying Grodin's computer screen over his shoulder.

"So you can get me home?" Colonel Sheppard addressed the question to Dr Weir, but it was Rodney who replied.

"Yes. I have discovered that the ancients were working on a method of travelling between realities." An enthusiastic grin brought his face to life. "It's fascinating actually. They appear to have been experimenting with wormholes which connected not only through space, but between different dimensions." His hands twisted in an approximation of a wormhole's coils. "It seems that they came close to perfecting the procedure before something led them to abandon their research." Frowning at his laptop he tapped a few keys. "There is still a great deal to decipher, but I am sure that, given time, I can complete their work." He frowned again and began more intense typing.

"I'm sorry, Rodney," Peter Grodin said, in a manner that suggested that he was continuing an earlier conversation, "But I don't think that we have that long to make the attempt. Every moment that we wait, the realities may be moving further apart."

"Or they might not be. Look, this isn't just a case of trial and error, Peter. We will almost certainly only get the one shot at a connection." McKay responded in an exasperated tone.

"Will you _please_ tell me what the hell you are talking about?" Sheppard's explosive question caused all eyes to turn to him.

"I'm sorry, Colonel." Elizabeth's soothing voice was the first to reply. "Rodney, would you explain from the top please?"

McKay stood and adopted a lecturing attitude, arms folded across his chest. "As I said before, the ancients were researching into travel between realities and had succeeded in creating this," He reached over to indicate the box connected to his laptop. "A sort of 'Quantum Interface'. Its purpose is to link into the Stargate control and allow the creation of a wormhole to a parallel universe. Now, the difficulty seems to lie in the initial connection, once that is established actually maintaining a wormhole should be relatively easy." He smiled, "Luckily for us, the connection to Colonel Sheppard's universe via the Stargate has already been made."

"But," Peter Grodin interrupted. "The longer Colonel Sheppard is here, the more likely it is that the two realities will drift out of alignment with each other, until, eventually, the link will be broken. Once that happens, finding the correct one again will be nigh on impossible."

"The problem is," Continued McKay, as if Grodin hadn't spoken. "That this 'Quantum Interface' appears to be a prototype. I have run a number of simulations and each one results in the overloading of the device." He turned to Dr Weir. "Elizabeth, with this Interface I am certain that we can return Colonel Sheppard to his own World, but there is absolutely no guarantee that we will retrieve the Major." Dr Weir's look of shock indicated that she had not considered this possibility.

Rodney persisted, "I need more time to replicate this device, so that Colonel Sheppard can take a duplicate back with him for use on his Stargate."

"How long will you need?" Elizabeth leaned forward and peered at the box with its complex arrangement of connections.

"Two weeks, three at most."

"That's too long." Grodin insisted, gesturing towards the screen of his own laptop. "If my calculations are correct, in less than 48 hours the link between realities will be too weak to maintain a wormhole. Besides, it is extremely likely that such a device already exists in Colonel Sheppard's Atlantis."

_"Are you prepared to risk losing the Major on that assumption?"_ Although the words were softly spoken McKay's anger was palpable, as he rounded on the English scientist, who stared back wide-eyed in surprise.

"Gentlemen." Dr Weir's conciliatory tone broke the following silence. "Thank you both for your efforts. Rodney, I'm sorry, but if Peter is right, we must make the attempt as soon as possible, and hope for the best." She turned to Sheppard who had been quiet throughout this exchange. He had been astonished at the level of emotion that McKay had shown. He only hoped that his own team were as concerned about him. "Colonel," Weir continued. "We will make the attempt as soon as Dr McKay has connected the devices to the Stargate."

* * *

Less than an hour later, Colonel Sheppard found himself standing before the Stargate, ready to transmit his IDC. Behind him in the control room, McKay was making the last checks on the connections between the Interface and the gate controls. He felt uneasy; there seemed to be several circuits in the device that did not connect to the gate, but none of his simulations had indicated their purpose.

Now, the hand-held was in place and all that was left was to dial out – or in; back to the Atlantis gate.

* * *

Down in the Gateroom, Elizabeth Weir walked towards Sheppard, who stood staring at the gate.

"Colonel, I'd like to say goodbye, and wish you luck. I hope that you get home safely." She smiled and shook him warmly by the hand.

"If I do, I promise to do everything I can to get your Major back to you." Sheppard replied. "Please say goodbye to Radek and McKay for me. And tell Rodney that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For being me."

She nodded, not really understanding. Then turned and climbed the stairs back to the crowded control room where she stood between McKay and Grodin.

* * *

A soft humming came from the Interface seated on the dialling console.

"I think that we're all ready now, Rodney. Please dial Atlantis."

McKay punched in the first symbol. The humming increased slightly in volume and the box itself began to vibrate. Rodney unconsciously placed his left had on the top of the box to steady it as he continued to dial.

All eyes were on the gate as the last chevron encoded. Elizabeth found that she was holding her breath as Rodney reached over the console and pressed the control to engage the wormhole.

But, instead of the usual sound of the gate activating, there came a startled cry from McKay. Elizabeth turned in surprise. Rodney was hunched over the console, his hand pressed hard against his chest, and a look of shocked pain in his eyes.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth hunkered down beside him. "_Rodney_?" There was no response, just the sound of laboured breathing. "Medical emergency!" Her voice sounded harsh in her own ears. "I need a medical team in the control room, now!"

Without waiting for a reply, she took his wrist and felt the weak, erratic pulse.


	7. Chapter 3ab

Chapter 3a and 3b

* * *

**Major Sheppard turned at Elizabeth's shout and took the stairs to the control room two at a time. He fought his way through the packed room, roughly forcing aside unresisting scientists until he reached the front of the hushed crowd.**

**Elizabeth was kneeling beside McKay, stooped over; counting aloud.**

**"...Two...three...four...five." She leaned forward and pinched McKay's nose, breathing sharply into his open mouth.**

**Sheppard dropped to his knees beside Dr Weir. Looking down at McKay's grey face he assessed the situation immediately.**

**"You breathe." He ordered Elizabeth as he began compressions. "One...two...three...four..." He felt a hand on his shoulder and forcibly shrugged it off.**

**"Get out of the way, Major." The clipped English voice meant nothing to Sheppard as he continued the rhythmic compressions. "Sheppard! Move, now!" He turned in anger to confront the interfering newcomer and, instantly, Dr Beckett pushed him aside.**

**"Get everyone out of this room; we need space." Beckett ordered as his team expertly deployed around McKay's body.**

**Sheppard stood and turned on the milling crowd. "You heard the man, out!" Within seconds the room began to clear, leaving John and Elizabeth to watch helplessly as Dr Singh began lubricating a portable defibrillator, ready for use.**

**"Three...four...five. Dr Singh, charge to 200. One...two...three...four...five. OK, are we ready? Stand clear..." Beckett turned to take the paddles from the Asian doctor.**

**"Dr Beckett, wait; I have a pulse!" A Doctor who Sheppard did not recognise held up her hand to prevent Beckett from operating the machine.**

**Beckett dropped the paddles and put his ear to McKay's chest. Seconds passed in silence as Beckett held his breath and listened. "It's weak, but holding. OK. Get him to the infirmary, ASAP."**

**As the medical team lifted McKay onto a gurney, Dr Beckett turned to Sheppard and Weir.**

**"I'll need to know exactly what happened."**

**"All I can imagine is that he got an electric shock from the Interface." Elizabeth looked at Sheppard who shrugged. He had been in the Gateroom at the time of the incident. "I'll get Grodin and Zelenka onto it as soon as possible and let you know."**

* * *

Colonel Sheppard reacted without thought. Instantly alert for danger, he raced towards the control room; the crowd of scientists parting before him as he stormed through.

Dr Weir crouched beside McKay, his grey face was drenched with sweat but his body shivered as if suffering from intense cold.

"Rodney? Rodney, can you hear me?" Dr Weir sought acknowledgment in McKay's pain-filled eyes. "Rodney?"

A curt nod of the head sent a murmur of relief through those close enough to see.

"Rodney, listen to me. You're gonna be fine. Carson's on his way." Elizabeth turned her head to glare into the crowd. Where was Beckett? It seemed like hours since she had sent for him, not just a few seconds. Spotting Sheppard as he forced his way forward she called out, "Colonel, get these people out of here."

"You heard; this isn't a side-show. Move it!" The scientists dispersed with many backward glances and expressions of concern, until the control room had cleared, leaving only John and Elizabeth, who was still beside McKay, holding on tightly to his hand.

Dr Beckett entered the room at a run, trailing behind him Peter Grodin, who was providing details of the emergency. "...just keeled over. He may have received a jolt from the Interface. You can smell the electrical burn-out from here."

Beckett rushed to McKay and stood over him. "Rodney, look at me. _Look at me!_" He waited until McKay's head rose and blue eyes focussed on his own. "Good lad, now give me your hand."

As Beckett spoke, McKay felt as though something snapped inside his chest. The burning agony subsided to leave behind it a dull ache. His ragged breathing eased and his terror-filled mind began to clear. He tried to lift his hand to Beckett, but something was holding it back.

"Erm, Elizabeth?" God, was that his voice? It sounded as weak as a kitten. Clearing his throat he tried again. "Elizabeth, that...that's hurting now."

She released his hand hurriedly and gave an embarrassed grin as the rest of the medical team moved in.

Once convinced that McKay was in no immediate danger, Dr Beckett signalled for a stretcher. McKay started trembling again, but this time Beckett recognised the onset of shock. "It's OK Rodney; you'll be my guest in the infirmary for a while. Do you want your usual bed?"

As the medical team hurried Rodney from the control room Dr Weir began to follow. Beckett restrained her with a gentle hand on her arm.

"No Elizabeth, you can't come just yet a while. Give us some time to get him settled in. I promise that I'll call you as soon as he is up to receiving visitors." Dr Beckett smiled to take the sting from his words. "The most help you can give me now is to find out exactly what happened here."

* * *

Left in the control room, Colonel Sheppard, Dr Weir and Peter Grodin began to examine the accident that resulted in McKay's collapse.

"Peter, what went wrong?" Dr Weir demanded.

Grodin accessed his computer, linking it directly to the Ancient mainframe. "Nothing went wrong. According to these readings, it worked. We have established a stable link with Colonel Sheppard's world." Grodin looked over the balcony, perplexed, at the inactive Stargate. "There was a massive power spike when the link was created and there is still a large energy output maintaining it; but it seems to have bypassed the gate mechanism entirely."

"So where is the wormhole connected?" Colonel Sheppard enquired, checking the dialling console. All controls had reset and the gate was powered down.

"There isn't a wormhole." Peter replied. He switched to a plan of Atlantis and ran a short program. "This end of the connection is currently moving." He zoomed in on a section of the city. "Towards the infirmary."

"Disengage the Interface. Break the connection." Elizabeth ordered as the significance of Peter's statement sank in.

Grodin shook his head as he double-checked his readings. "I'm sorry Elizabeth, but the Interface is no longer engaged; the initial power surge caused it to overload. The link is now pulling power directly from Rodney, at an alarming rate."

"Then shut the damn thing off!" Sheppard snarled at the Englishman.

"There's no way to do that, Colonel." Peter explained apologetically, "If it had connected through the Stargate, as expected, then closing the gate down would have severed that connection, but I'm afraid that this link will just keep on drawing energy until there is no energy left for it to draw."

"You mean it will drain him until he dies?" Dr Weir asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid so. And, at the rate that the link is consuming power, that can only be a matter of days."

* * *

**"There's no reason why he hasn't woken." Dr Beckett sat in his office adjoining the infirmary, in conference with Weir, Sheppard and Zelenka. "His condition has been stabilised and he's in no physical pain. All indications are that he could come round at any time. Kate has been talking to him but there hasn't been the slightest response."**

**"Isn't there anything you can give him?" Dr Weir looked through the open door at McKay, lying still as death.**

**"Of course, but I'm loath to force the issue before he's ready. That could do considerably more harm than good. Something is going on inside his head and until he decides otherwise, I'm going to let him sleep."**

* * *

Dr Beckett had finally deemed that Rodney was able to receive visitors. Elizabeth and John had arrived just in time to sit with him as he finished a second helping of lunch.

"You know, I really like hospital food." He explained around a mouthful of 'chicken' stew. "And I'm absolutely starving. Carson explained that this link is drawing energy from me, but it doesn't feel too bad." He pushed his empty plate across the over-bed table and started picking at the grapes that Elizabeth had brought. Elizabeth always brought him grapes when he was in the infirmary and he had never got round to asking her where they came from. It was just one of the many mysteries of Atlantis, he decided.

"Let's hope it stays that way." It took Rodney a second to realise that Dr Weir was responding to his comment about the link. He must be more tired than he thought. Picking up his glass he took a sip, hoping that it would wake him up, but the cold water just chilled him. A good, hot mug of coffee was what he needed.

"It's a shame we can't use it." Sheppard saw Rodney's puzzled look. "The link; it's a shame that we can't use it. If we could find out what my people are doing, we could co-ordinate our efforts."

Instantly McKay was enthusiastic. "It's worth a try, Colonel. I'll see what I can do." He closed his eyes and concentrated on the link. In his head he could see a blue 'wormhole' which connected him to someone else. The mind was familiar, up to a point, but there was no activity.

"He's unconscious. He wants to be unconscious; he doesn't want to wake up. God, this man's mind is a mess. There are walls, blocks everywhere. If I can just..."

"McKay!" Sheppard spoke sharply. "McKay, leave it, you don't want to do that."

"It's alright Colonel, I'll put them back when I've finished, he'll never know. I...Oh god!"

"Rodney?" Elizabeth's voice was getting fainter, further away, and...

He was in a room. A dark room. Not pitch black. There was just enough light to see the things that were in there with him. See their eyes, their teeth, their sharp, sharp claws. They were waiting, on the edge of his vision. Waiting for him to make the wrong move, say the wrong thing. Then they would have him. So much easier, so much safer to just stay still, say nothing. Don't try to do anything, because if he didn't try, he couldn't fail and they so_ wanted_ him to fail. And there was no exit, no way out. No way out but one. _That_ way out was always there. They would welcome him making _that_ decision at any time. But the exit was locked and he needed something to open it. A knife. A good, sharp knife. Then he could leave the room. Go where they couldn't follow. And never, ever come back.

"_Rodney_!" Elizabeth's voice was getting louder, closer. She was holding on to his hand again, so tightly that it hurt; really, _really_ hurt. A sharp pain across his palm. He tried to pull his arm away but it wouldn't move an inch.

Rodney looked up. It wasn't Elizabeth beside him, it was Sheppard.

"Colonel?"

"Yes McKay?" The voice was tight, controlled.

"Er, you can let go of my arm now." Sheppard looked down at McKay's hand.

"First, you let go."

Rodney followed John's gaze. On the table were the remains of the water glass. The largest piece was grasped tightly in his hand, like a knife. Rodney opened his fingers and let the sticky shard fall to the bed. He tried moving his other arm but it too was being held, no restrained, by Dr Beckett.

McKay stared at his bloody palm. "Ow."

"You two had better go now." Dr Beckett's firm voice allowed for no argument, and John and Elizabeth rose to leave. "OK Rodney, I want to irrigate that hand, and you may be needing stitches."

As the day wore on the energy drain on McKay began to take hold. Twice he called for more blankets as his core temperature fell until finally Dr Beckett set up an IV of warm glucose. A succession of visitors were informed that the normal ban on outside food had been relaxed and, by the time that Peter Grodin arrived to update Rodney on the progress that he and Zelenka had made, a coffee-machine had been set up on the bedside table.

"I'm afraid that the Interface is totally unsalvageable". Grodin explained regretfully. "Too many circuits were burnt out. Given a few weeks we could probably build another one though." He continued more brightly.

"I'm not sure that's an option, Peter."

Grodin's face fell, but he attempted to keep McKay optimistic. "Come on Rodney, don't give up. You might outlive us all."

"Wait!" McKay sat up excitedly as an idea formed. "Peter, what would happen if I _were_ to die? Just for a moment? Would that break the link? Because if it would, we could..."

"I'm sorry, Rodney, but we've already thought of that. It doesn't matter if you are alive or not. You are just a power source. If you die, then the residual energy in your body will just continue to drain. When all the energy is gone, then the link will break, but not before."

McKay's head dropped back to the pillow. He suddenly felt utterly wretched. He was hungry, which was not unusual; he was freezing cold, which was just about bearable; and his mind was filling with a thick fog. God, if he was this bad, what must the other McKay be like? Another thought occurred; a very disturbing thought.

"Peter, what would happen if the other Dr McKay died?" The look on Grodin's face told Rodney that this had also been discussed, and that the answer was not good.

"We're not sure." Grodin began.

"Peter!" It took an effort to put that much force behind the word. The next two were just a whisper. "Tell me."

Grodin looked down at his hands. "We _think_" he stressed, "That the connection is such that, if he died, so would you."

After Grodin left, Rodney started to doze. There seemed little else he could do. Except, maybe...

* * *

**A pair of pale blue eyes snapped open. They scanned around and focussed on Sheppard. A wide smile spread across the grey face. "Thank god, it worked!"**

**"Rodney, you're awake!" Sheppard looked around for Dr Beckett but McKay's hand caught his own as he turned. IV tubes shaking at the violent movement.**

**"Major! It's me; I need to talk to you urgently."**

**The voice sounded wrong in Sheppard's ears. No, on second thoughts, it sounded _right_. "McKay?"**

**"Yes, Major."**

**"_My_ McKay?"**

**"Yes, I think that we have established that. Now please listen; I have very little time. Tell Dr Beckett, that he _must_ keep this body alive."**

**"He's doing his best." Sheppard felt such relief that he fell into his usual banter with Rodney, but McKay was not playing along.**

**"Yes, but it isn't just his life that's in danger. I have to go, this isn't easy. On either of us. Major, it's good to see that you are OK. Oh, and you can tell them that the Colonel is fine too. Now remember, tell Dr Beckett; don't let him die"**

* * *

Rodney had found his red fleece that had last seen use in Antarctica. Under it he wore two jackets and a long-sleeved shirt and was now merely perishingly cold. In his good hand he cradled a beaker of hot coffee, laced with five sugars. He suspected that Carson had slipped something else into it as well. Not alcohol though, because that would be...would be... would be a bad thing. He hoped that it was something to help him concentrate because he had never felt so exhausted and he needed to think.

He needed to think because he was Rodney McKay and no-one else was going to get him out of this. He needed to think.

Someone was talking, a long way off. Zelem... no Zelenka.

"We use the hand-held device to dial Atlantis from here and hope that we get a viable wormhole." Zelenka was explaining to the team. Sheppard and Weir sat at the conference table, reading through Zelenka's simplified notes, while Grodin checked his calculations on a laptop. Dr Beckett had allowed Rodney to attend under protest, but admitted that there was no point keeping him in the infirmary. McKay's condition was deteriorating and nothing he tried was helping.

"What good will that do?" Rodney was finding it hard to follow Zelenka's reasoning. "If we dial the Atlantis address, the best we can hope for is a wormhole back here, and _that_ will probably be unstable."

"Yes. Then you step through the gate." Zelenka replied patiently. This was the second time that he had explained his idea but he was prepared to keep going until McKay understood it. "The Quantum link takes path of least resistance and discharges through the wormhole. _Then_ we have a Quantum wormhole to Colonel Sheppard's Atlantis as originally planned!"

"You want me to step into a probably unstable wormhole while mentally linked to someone in another universe?" That didn't sound like a very good idea, but he had got nothing better.

"Yes."

"And you think that this will work?"

"In theory, yes."

"_In theory_?" Rodney was pleased with that outburst. It sounded just like his old self. Although he had never felt as old as he did now.

Zelenka smiled, "I'm sorry, Rodney, but two days ago we had never even imagined a Quantum Wormhole. All of this is still pure conjecture."

"If you are correct, will it break my link with the other McKay?"

"In theo..."

"And if it doesn't?" Rodney lowered his head onto the table, resigned acceptance the only emotion in his voice.

"If it doesn't Rodney, then you will either end up back here being drained of energy until you die, or you will be somewhere else undergoing the same process." Zelenka replied wearily. "I never said that it was a perfect plan, but is the only one we have."

One look at McKay told Elizabeth that there was no time to investigate other options. "OK gentleman. I want a MALP prepared for a dry run as soon as possible. If we are sure that we can produce a stable, _safe_ wormhole back here, then we will redial later today and hope for the best.

"Realistically, Radek, what are the chances of this working?" Dr Weir collared the Czech as the others left the briefing room to prepare the MALP.

Zelenka shrugged expressively. "Honestly, I don't know. The most probable scenario is that we will not be able to engage a wormhole at all. If we do, and if it is stable, then creating a Quantum wormhole when Rodney goes through the gate is actually quite likely. But whether will that sever his connection with the other McKay is a total unknown. Overall though, I would estimate slightly less than 2 percent chance of success.

Dr Beckett was in his lab when word came that the dry run had actually worked. A MALP had entered the wormhole and immediately reappeared back through the gate. The wormhole would be left running for as long as possible while data was collected and studied. Reluctantly, he loaded up a hypodermic with some of the more dubious stimulants. Back home he could be struck off just for considering this but they needed Rodney to be alert over the next few hours. They needed his input analysing the data before they re-established the wormhole and he stepped through the gate.

Carson found McKay in the Gateroom, sitting wearily on the MALP and watching the event horizon as it shimmered. Diagnostic devices were still hooked up to the gate and readings were being relayed back to the mainframe.

"Hi Rodney. How are you feeling?" Beckett asked quietly. McKay's eyes were sunken and red-rimmed and his constant shivering was causing the MALP to rattle and shake.

There was no reply, but Carson hadn't really expected one. He took McKay's cold hand and awkwardly pushed up the layers of sleeves. Wiping down the area, he sank the needle home.

Rodney didn't know if he was imagining it, but he thought that he felt something hot moving up inside his arm, like a fire in his vein. As the drugs reached his brain they pushed aside the thick fog. Why hadn't Beckett given him this hours ago? There was so much to do. Instantly he started assessing the plan and immediately saw a major flaw. There was no way of transmitting an IDC until he had already entered the wormhole. The shield would be raised and he would arrive to be laminated one molecule thick on the wormhole side.

There was only one way to get the shield lowered and, with his brain racing, he closed his eyes and tried it.

* * *

**Rodney opened his eyes. Nearby monitors gave reassuring pings and hums. Sitting next to the bed was Dr Weir, her eyes closed, lines of worry etched deeply on her face.**

**"Elizabeth?" His voice cracked. "Dr Weir?"**

**Her eyes snapped open at the sound of her name. "Rodney! You're aw..."**

**"There isn't time. I'm not him, I'm me. The real...the other McKay. You must lower the shield!"**

**"Rodney?" Her brows furrowed. "I don't..."**

**"You must lower the shield! I'm going to try to open the Quantum wormhole, but you _must_ lower the..."**

**A steady beeping from the nearest monitor suddenly changed into a shrill alarm.**

**No, don't let him die, not now. "Please Elizabeth, lower th..."**

* * *

Back in the Gateroom, McKay felt a searing agony in his chest. He pushed himself up from the MALP and staggered the few paces to the gate, to fall through the event horizon. 


	8. chapter 4 a and b

A/N: Sorry it's been so long – Thanks to sgafan33 and Arbitrary9 for giving me a kick.

Chapter 4 – The End

* * *

**Dr Mathews took a bite of her sandwich and glanced over at her shoulder patch, propped up on the gate control. The Welsh Dragon had become her lucky talisman; always watching over her as she worked, ever alert for danger. Dr Grodin had asked once why she had a Welsh Dragon rather than the Union Flag as he did, but she was ready for the question and pointed out that Dr Beckett wore the Cross of St George. This seemed to satisfy him. In truth, she had been issued with a Union Flag but just preferred to wear the patch that she had bought in a little souvenir shop in Conway, the last time she was home. She was happily remembering that day when an urgent voice spoke directly into her ear.**

**"Control room, this is Dr Weir. If the gate activates, I want you to lower the shield."**

**Dr Mathews sat upright and began to check the control panel, wondering what she had missed.**

**"Dr Weir? Dr Mathews speaking; please say again?"**

**"Lower the shield doctor."**

**Mathews checked the shield control as, sitting next to her, Chen announced; "Incoming wormhole...We're not getting an IDC."**

**"Dr Weir? Did you get that? We have an incoming wormhole with no IDC. Should I raise the shield again?" Dr Mathews' hand hovered over the control, awaiting instructions.**

**

* * *

**

**Down in the gateroom, armed airmen appeared as if by magic as a figure in red pitched headfirst through the gate and lay motionless on the gateroom floor. Five men took up positions covering the gate, while their Sergeant cautiously approached the fallen man and rolled him onto his back. "Dr Weir! Dr McKay has just come through the gate. He needs medical assistance."**

**----**

**"Dr Samuels, take a team to the gateroom. Elizabeth, you should go too, there's nothing you can do here..." Beckett turned back to Rodney and began issuing orders to the infirmary staff as Elizabeth and an emergency team hurried to the door. **

**Dr Weir's mind was racing; calling for Major Sheppard and Dr Zelenka to meet her in the gateroom she turned over what McKay had just told her. If he had managed to open a Quantum wormhole then it was likely that the clock would be ticking; there was probably only a maximum of 38 minutes before it automatically closed down.**

**Turning the corner into the gateroom, Elizabeth took in the scene at a glance. Five airmen were stationed around the gate with a sixth helping a figure in red to sit upright. Dr Samuels' team hurried to assist.**

**

* * *

**

**Major Sheppard entered the room at a run, with Dr Zelenka hard on his heels. Skidding to a halt, Sheppard caught sight of the emergency team huddled around...**

**"Rodney!"**

**The grey face that turned towards him was almost unrecognisable as McKay's. He looked infinitely worse than the Rodney currently unconscious in Dr Beckett's infirmary. This McKay had been awake, aware and trying to function; and the strain showed deeply.**

**The blueish lips were moving constantly although McKay did not seem to be talking to either the airman or the doctors around him. Sheppard glanced at Dr Samuels, his eyebrow raised, and, receiving a curt nod, knelt down beside McKay. The Sergeant moved away and began his report to Weir and Zelenka as Sheppard leaned close to McKay and tried to catch his words.**

**An ice-cold hand shot out and grasped his own. With a strength that Sheppard would have thought impossible, Rodney pulled himself towards the Major. "Major, radio back. Keep the gate open. One shot." Exhausted by this, Rodney relaxed back to the floor and lay still as the medical team prepared him for transfer to the infirmary.**

**Major Sheppard understood the concern. If the wormhole were to close down, they would both be trapped in this reality, and, with two McKay's on the same side of the gate, neither would last long. He opened a channel.**

**"Atlantis base, this is Major Sheppard, can you hear me? Elizabeth?"**

**Behind him, Dr Weir turned her head at the sound of her name.**

**Sheppard's radio crackled. "_John?_" **

**Feeling as though a huge weight had suddenly lifted, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Elizabeth, it's good to speak to you again." **

**"_John, it's wonderful to hear you._" A pause, then, "_Did Rodney make it?_" The strain in her voice alerted John to the double meaning in the words.**

**"He's here, and he's awake." Sheppard reassured Weir. He turned to watch the medical team wheeling McKay out of the gateroom, with Zelenka in tow. There was an urgency but no sense of desperation to their movements.**

**Over the radio, Sheppard heard a hubbub of background voices and a muffled discussion. He thought that he could recognise Beckett's voice and grinned to hear the Scottish burr.**

**"_Major,_" Dr Weir continued. "_If you and Rodney are ready to come home, the shield is down and Atlantis is eagerly awaiting your return_." Now he could hear the relief and imagine the smile that she was sharing with the people around her. There was nothing he would have liked better than to step through the gate and see it for himself. Unfortunately, as far as John was concerned, that wasn't an option.**

**"I'm sorry Elizabeth, but Rodney has been taken to the infirmary. I'll find out what is happening and report to you as soon as I can."**

**"_John, there's nothing to stop you from coming back now that we're in radio contact with the other Atlantis._" Now she sounded resigned. Sheppard realised that Elizabeth knew him too well. She knew that he would not be coming back alone.**

**"I'm not going anywhere without McKay."**

* * *

"Rodney!" Carson Beckett's cry cut across the gateroom. The scientist had moved with a speed that had surprised Beckett, and he had reacted too slowly to hold McKay back. "Rodney! Stop!" Beckett leapt forward, towards the gate, but McKay had already entered the event horizon with a watery ripple. Beckett stopped short of the wormhole and turned on the nearest technician. "You couldn't have stopped him?" He demanded, more in anger with himself than with the startled tech.

"I'm sorry sir, I wasn't expecting..."

Ignoring the apology, Beckett flicked his radio. "Dr Weir. Where are you? That bloody fool McKay has taken himself through the gate."

"Rodney? Why the..? I'm on my way." Movement from above caught Beckett's eye as Dr Weir and Zelenka emerged from Weir's office and hurried down the gateroom steps.

"What happened, doctor?" Elizabeth demanded the moment she reached the gate level.

Beckett was still berating himself. "I wouldn't have believed that he could've moved that fast. Those stimulants must've given his system quite a shock. I need to..."

"Carson! I need to know exactly what happened."

The medic paused to organise his thoughts. "Sorry Elizabeth. I gave Rodney the injection as we discussed and he started muttering to himself about the shield. Then took off for the gate. I couldn't stop him."

"And he hasn't reappeared?" Elizabeth was unsure if that was good or bad.

A quiet voice at Elizabeth's shoulder interrupted her thoughts. "My God. It may have worked. But we had not considered the shield. If it was raised on the other side..." Zelenka frowned at the wormhole over the top of his glasses before turning to the technician. Heads together, they studied the diagnostic instruments attached to the Stargate.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the gateroom speakers. "_Atlantis base, this is Major Sheppard, can you hear me? Elizabeth?_"

"John?"

"_Elizabeth, it's good to speak to you again_." Elizabeth could almost see the boyish grin spreading across Sheppard's face. But he was unaware of Zelenka's plan to create the wormhole.

"John, it's wonderful to hear you." She closed her eyes against the vision of McKay impacting the shield. "Did Rodney make it?"

"_He's here, and he's awake_." Around Dr Weir, the gateroom broke into a babble of excited voices. There was even a ripple of applause and, from someone, a cheer.

Dr Beckett had to raise his voice to be heard over the commotion. "The fact that he's awake can only be a good sign. I'll be happier when he's back here though; what I've given him is a bit more potent than coffee and I'd like to get him under observation."

Zelenka trotted back, waving a PDA. "Dr Weir, I have more good news. The gate itself is now powering the wormhole. It worked."

Elizabeth smiled. For the first time since becoming aware that John had not returned from M3H-136, she dared to believe that everything might turn out OK.

"Major, if you and Rodney are ready to come home, the shield is down and Atlantis is eagerly awaiting your return."

"_I'm sorry Elizabeth, but Rodney has been taken to the infirmary. I'll find out what is happening and get back to you as soon as I can_."

Elizabeth knew that Sheppard would not leave McKay behind, but she needed to give him the option. "John, there's nothing to stop you from coming back now that we're in radio contact with the other Atlantis."

The response was immediate and expected. "_I'm not going anywhere without McKay_."

* * *

**Major Sheppard made his way down to the infirmary, deep in discussion with Dr Weir. The opportunities that the quantum wormhole presented were beginning to dawn. A steady stream of information was already passing through the gate in both directions; details deciphered from the Ancient database, facts about the Wraith, even gate addresses to avoid were being exchanged. Sheppard felt distinctly uneasy about placing too much trust in the specifics of the information; this was still a different universe and the smallest change ten thousand years ago may have altered the here and now. **

**They entered the infirmary to the sound of a familiar voice. John paused in the doorway and looked across the room to see Rodney propped up in bed, a medic attempting to attach a pulse monitor to his finger. Some colour had returned to his face and he was talking animatedly to Zelenka.**

**"..so my entering the wormhole collapsed the field and completed the process which the Interface began. It was an elegant solution, but I'm surprised that you never reached the same conclusion, doctor." McKay favoured Zelenka with a smug look, which the Czech returned with a puzzled frown.**

**"With Rodney unconscious the whole time, we had no way of knowing what was affecting him." Zelenka sounded defensive. Sheppard smiled at McKay's unnatural ability to piss people off. He had _so_ missed that.**

**"Major Sheppard!" McKay saw John in the doorway and held up his hand in greeting, absently pulling off the pulse monitor which the medic patiently replaced. "It's good to see you again. How long do we have?"**

**Sheppard checked his watch. "The wormhole has been open for 23 minutes, so we've 15 minutes left. Plenty of time."**

**"Well, if you'll just find me my boots, we can be on our way."**

**A clipped, English voice made McKay turn. "If I could keep you for just a moment longer Dr McKay." Sheppard noticed Rodney's surprise at Beckett's English tones, though he hid it well. "You seem to recovered very rapidly since you arrived and I wondered if you could shed any light on our Rodney's condition."**

**"I've explained everything to Zelemeka. Your Dr McKay should be recovering at the same rate."**

**"Physically, yes. But we are still unable to wake him."**

**"I know."**

**"You do?" Sheppard hoped this didn't mean what he thought it meant. **

**"Yes, unfortunately we have not had one hundred percent success. I can still hear him, in here." He tapped his temple. "Don't worry Major, when we leave and shut down the wormhole, then all links with this reality will be broken and he and I can both get on with our lives."**

**Dr Weir spoke. "Dr McKay, is there any way you can help him? We've tried everything to encourage him to wake, but..."**

**"No, there's nothing I can do. He's stuck in a place of his own making and he won't leave it. I'm sorry Dr Weir but I can't help. Now Major, can we go?"**

**"McKay!" John was appalled.**

**"What do you want me to do, Major?" McKay's eyes shone and sweat stood on his forehead.**

**"I don't know; think of something." **

**"This isn't exactly my area of expertise. Besides, it's his nightmare, not mine, and if he hasn't got the guts to get himself out of it, then I don't see why I should care."**

**"McKay, you can't leave him like that if there is a way to help." **

**"I think you'll find that _I_ am the injured party here, Major." Rodney waved a bandaged hand at John but the significance of it was lost on him.**

**The pulse monitor gave off a warning beep and the waiting medic leaned forward to check the reading. He nodded to Beckett who took John off to one side and spoke in a low, confidential tone. "Major Sheppard, is Dr McKay on any medication?"**

**"Not that I know of, why?"**

**"His heart rate is through the roof and his preliminary blood analysis shows some very disturbing results. It appears that your people pumped him full of stimulants before sending him here." He held up a hand to forestall Sheppard's objection. "I'm sure they had their reasons, but the upshot is that he is highly unstable at the moment. I think that it would be best for you both to leave. Much though I would like his help with Rodney, I can't in all conscience press the matter."**

**Rodney watched the two men as they discussed him; he couldn't hear the words but he knew what they were saying. Didn't they understand what he had been through? When he thought of what could have happened, it terrified him; he could have _died_. And now they expected _more_? They wanted him to take the risk, _again_. Well, OK, if that's what they wanted. He knew how to end McKay's nightmare.**

**

* * *

**

**He was in a room. A dark room. Not pitch black. There was just enough light to see the things that were in there with him. See their eyes, their teeth, their sharp, sharp claws. They were waiting, on the edge of his vision. Waiting for him to make the wrong move, say the wrong thing. Then they would have him. So much easier, so much safer to just stay still, say nothing. Don't try to do anything, because if he didn't try, he couldn't fail and they so_ wanted_ him to fail. And there was no exit, no way out. No way out but one. _That_ way out was always there. They would welcome him making _that_ decision at any time. But the exit was locked and he needed something to open it. A knife. A good, sharp knife. Then he could leave the room. Go where they couldn't follow. And never, ever come back. A movement behind him made him flinch. They were getting closer. He could hear them. A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.**

**"Look, you idiot, take this."**

**He stared, dumbstruck. Another Rodney McKay stood in front of him, handing him something.**

**"Just take it and get out."**

**His hand closed on cold metal. His thumb felt for an edge.**

**"No, not that way. Just open the door."**

**He looked down at the object in his hand. A key.**

**A slow smile spread across his face. Now, why hadn't he thought of that?**

* * *

Colonel Sheppard stood at the bottom of the gateroom steps, arguing with Dr Weir.

"But there is nothing to stop me from going home, doctor. If the gate closes now, I'll be stuck here."

"As Dr Zelenka explained, there can't be two of you in the same universe for any length of time. Until the Major is ready to return, it is in your own interest to stay on this side of the gate." Elizabeth understood the Colonel's impatience, however, she was responsible for both Sheppards, and for the Colonel to return now would be an unnecessary risk.

"There is no reason for him to stay there; if you were to order him back then at least _we_ would be in the right place."

Elizabeth had no intention of ordering any such thing. There were still five minutes left before the wormhole closed down and, since John would never leave without Rodney, she was prepared to wait.

Her earpiece crackled into life. "_Elizabeth, it's John, we're ready to come home. If Colonel Sheppard would like to return, his people are anxious to have him back."_

Dr Weir smiled. "Colonel, you have a go."

* * *

There was a strange double-ripple as the Colonel stepped through the event horizon. Almost immediately Sheppard and McKay appeared through the gate, to be greeted by a loud cheer from the gateroom personnel.

Ford stepped forward with a smart salute. "Good to have you back, sir."

"It's good to be back, lieutenant."

Behind Sheppard and McKay, the Stargate closed down.

McKay cocked his head on one side, as if listening for something. A look of pure relief suffused his face. "Oh, thank God."

* * *

EPILOGUE

Carson Beckett looked up as Dr Weir entered his infirmary. He had just finished his examinations of Sheppard and McKay who were sitting on the edge of a bed; John checking his radio connection and Rodney pulling on his jacket.

Elizabeth smiled at the three men. "And how are they after their adventure, Doctor?"

"Major Sheppard is as fit as ever." John gave Elizabeth a lop-sided grin and continued to adjust his radio earpiece. "Rodney's system is dealing with the stimulants very well now. He'll be fine, given a couple of days rest..."

"Rest? Do you have any idea how much data there is to analyse? The new insights into the working of the Stargate alone will take weeks of study. I want to get Grodin working on cross-referencing the two Ancient databases before we use any of the new information." McKay pulled on his boots and jumped down from the bed. "Elizabeth, I'll need to power down the..."

"Rodney!" Beckett's voice cut across McKay's. "You are to rest for at least two days." He waited patiently until McKay's outburst finished. "Two days Rodney. But if you promise to take it easy, you can go back to your lab and work on something that doesn't involve physical exertion," Rodney beamed, that was his favourite kind of work anyway. "And," Beckett continued, "I want someone keeping an eye on you at all times."

"I know Major Sheppard won't mind keeping me company."

"Oh, you do?" Sheppard had been looking forward to a long, hot shower and some quality time with 'War and Peace.'

Dr Beckett looked at Sheppard and McKay. They argued like children but of all the Atlantis personnel, Sheppard was the one most likely to keep Rodney under control. And anything was better than having McKay in the infirmary for two days.

"Major, if you find him drinking coffee, you have my permission to shoot him. That may not slow him down much, mind you."

Sheppard knew when he was beaten. "Elizabeth, it looks like my report might have to wait a while. Come on McKay."

The two men left the infirmary together. By the time they reached Rodney's lab, John had already tuned out the constant stream of babble. Ahead of him stretched two days shut in a room with a hyperactive McKay.

Sheppard sighed. It was good to be home.

End


End file.
